Steven's Story
by EmilyRachelle
Summary: Garnet tells a teenage Steven how he came to be. One shot, complete.


"Garnet, how do I exist?" Steven glanced up from the 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle he and Garnet were working on.

Garnet responded immediately without looking up from the puzzle on the coffee table. "Your organic form is sustained by caloric human food intake, while your respiratory system is maintained by your gem in a manner that defies logical explana-"

"No, I mean... how did I... begin?"

Garnet leaned back on the sofa and crossed her legs. "I don't understand."

Steven returned his attention to the puzzle as he spoke, sorting light blue sky pieces and dark blue bird pieces. "Well, Dad told me how humans are made. And Pearl told me how Gems are made. But how was I made?"

"Oh." Garnet paused, her expression hidden behind her visor. "Well, Steven, your mother was a Gem, and your father was a human."

Steven rolled his eyes. "I know that."

"I'm telling the story." Garnet chuckled.

Steven laughed, waiting for her to continue.

"Your mother and father fell in love. No Gem had ever loved a human before, not like that. There were no rules or explanations. Just like Ruby and Sapphire, Rose and Greg had to learn who they were, and what they were, together.

"Your mother loved everything about humans. She wanted to know everything she could about your world. She learned about human babies when your dad babysat Sour Cream. He told you that story, right?"

Steven laughed, nodding. "Yeah, that was a good one."

Garnet smiled. "That day, Rose asked Greg all about babies and humans and how they're made. Greg told her the science behind the process. He also told her most people make babies because their love for each other is so great, they want to express it by creating a new life through their love. Sort of like a fusion, but a separate being from the parents.

"Just like everything else on Earth, the human process fascinated her. As she grew more and more in love with your dad, she asked more questions about human love and babies. She loved your father more than she'd loved anything on this planet, or any other planet. She wanted, more than anything, to be a part of the human life on Earth.

"When Greg's knowledge couldn't answer all her questions, Rose researched pregnancy in human libraries. She learned the steps in human development and the expected time frame for each. Eventually she came up with a plan."

Garnet paused. She hadn't been as close to Rose as Pearl had, but she still missed her friend and leader dearly. As much as she loved Steven, it was painful knowing Rose chose to leave them. It was even harder when it happened, before the Gems had come to love Steven so much.

"Rose told Greg her plan, but she left out several details. She told Pearl and myself more. We tried everything we could to stop her. We knew what her plan would mean for her, and so did she. None of us knew if it would even work. But your mother never let anyone get in her way. Once she set her mind to something, there was no taking it back.

"Eventually Rose did tell your father what pregnancy would mean for her, a Gem. It was hard for him, too, but Greg would do anything to make Rose happy. He agreed to her plan.

"You were made in the same way human babies are. That's how you got your organic form. But Gems don't have the reproductive system humans do. Rose shapeshifted her light form internally to create a reproductive system like the ones in the textbooks she'd studied. It took some trial and error, but finally, one day, she could feel the difference. In the center of her being, nestled up behind her Gem, was something warm and organic and different than the rest of her. It was a baby. It was you.

"Human embryos attach to the lining of their mother's womb and form an umbilical cord. This provides the nutrients the baby needs to form and grow. You were different, though. Half human, but half Gem, your embryo attached to Rose's gem. She had to eat to sustain your organic functions, but everything else was maintained by her gem.

"Rose's plan worked perfectly. But a Gem can't stretch their form forever, and no healthy, whole gem had ever sustained two forms at once. The pregnancy made your mother very weak and tired. We knew, when you were born, your bodies would separate. Her gem would remain a part of your organic form, where it was now already permanently attached. Even if a Gem could recover from such extensive shapeshifting, her form could not exist without a gem. We knew your birth would mean her death."

Garnet paused again, overcome with emotion. Steven leaned over, puzzle abandoned, and placed a comforting arm around her.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice low and grave.

Garnet smiled. "But the end of this story is the best part. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because now we have you. Your mother loved Earth and its people so much, she wanted to be a part of it. And now she is. Her gem is one half of the first and only Gem-human hybrid to ever exist. Nothing else could have made Rose happier."

Steven smiled. "Thanks, Garnet."

Garnet wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
